DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Museum of Art has been named by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as a certified cargo screening facility (CCSF), a federal designation that makes the process of shipping artwork by air much easier for the Museum. This makes the DMA one of very few museums in the country, and the second museum in Texas, to achieve this clearance level; others include the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. The certification process, a year-and-a-half in the making, was overseen by the DMA’s Gabriela Truly, Director of Collections Management. The first certified shipment from the Museum is scheduled to take place with the closing of the touring exhibition The Lens of Impressionism.

Beginning in August, all cargo that travels on passenger planes must be screened prior to departure, as part of the 9/11 Commission Act signed in 2007. For the Museum, this raised a question of safety in regard to the handling of works of art outside the Museum. Lance Childers, Director of Security at the Dallas Museum of Art, commented, “We were concerned about sending works of art to the airport to ship because we do not know the level of skill their security people have when it comes to pieces that need to have special attention.” By achieving the certification, the Dallas Museum of Art is able to ensure proper handling, maintenance and packaging of art.

“Qualifying as a certified cargo screening facility by the TSA was of high importance to the Museum,” said Bonnie Pitman, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director. “This designation allows us to continue to maintain and uphold the highest quality of security and care for works of art for which the Museum is responsible.”

The new certification does not change the way the Museum has done its packing, according to Brent Mitchell, the DMA’s Registrar for Loans and Exhibitions. TSA certified staff members will screen every empty crate bound for shipment on airplanes, in compliance with the new TSA regulations.